User interface tap selection on touchscreen device

ABSTRACT

A tap associated with an active area on a user interface of a touchscreen device is received at a first time. The active area is associated with an origination time. It is determined that a period of time between the origination time and the first time is within a specified period of time. In response to the determining, an action associated with the active area is not performed.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to touchscreen computing devices, andmore specifically, to user interface tap selection on touchscreencomputing devices.

Tapping the screen on a touchscreen device is used to select activeareas on a user interface. For example, a user may tap the screen toselect a link in a web browser. Reflows can cause active areas on a userinterface to change location. Reflows may be caused by loading newcontent, resizing a window, or other events which affect layout of itemsin a user interface.

SUMMARY

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a method isdisclosed. The method includes receiving, at a first time, a first tapassociated with an active area on a user interface of a touchscreendevice. The active area is associated with an origination time. Themethod further includes determining that a period of time between theorigination time and the first time is within a specified period oftime. The method further includes, in response to the determining, notperforming an action associated with the active area.

Further disclosed herein are embodiments of a computer program product.The computer program product includes a computer readable storage mediumhaving program code embodied therewith. The program code is executableby a computer to perform a method. The method includes receiving, at afirst time, a first tap associated with an active area on a userinterface of a touchscreen device. The active area is associated with anorigination time. The method further includes determining that a periodof time between the origination time and the first time is within aspecified period of time. The method further includes, in response tothe determining, not performing an action associated with the activearea.

Further disclosed herein are embodiments of a system. The systemincludes one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories,one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, and programinstructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devicesfor execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at leastone of the one or more memories. The program instructions includeprogram instructions to receive, at a first time, a first tap associatedwith an active area on a user interface of a touchscreen device. Theactive area is associated with an origination time. The programinstructions further include program instructions to determine that aperiod of time between the origination time and the first time is withina specified period of time. The program instructions further includeprogram instructions to, in response to the determining, not perform anaction associated with the active area.

The above summary is not intended to describe each illustratedembodiment or every implementation of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings included in the present application are incorporated into,and form part of, the specification. They illustrate embodiments of thepresent disclosure and, along with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure. The drawings are only illustrative ofcertain embodiments and do not limit the disclosure.

FIG. 1 depicts a flow diagram of an example method for user interfacetap selection on a touchscreen device.

FIG. 2 depicts an example user interface with a dialog box forconfirming a tap associated with an active area.

FIG. 3A depicts an example user interface containing an active areaprior to receiving a tap.

FIG. 3B depicts an example user interface with a zoomed section forconfirming a tap selection of an active area.

FIG. 4 depicts a high-level block diagram of an example system forimplementing one or more embodiments of the invention.

While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternativeforms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in thedrawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood,however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to theparticular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to user interface tap selectionon a touchscreen device, and more particular aspects relate topreventing accidental selection of active areas on a user interface of atouchscreen device. While the present disclosure is not necessarilylimited to such applications, various aspects of the disclosure may beappreciated through a discussion of various examples using this context.

Movement of active areas on a user interface of a touchscreen device maycause users to accidentally select an active area. A user may attempt toselect an active area and accidently select a different active area whenan active area moves just prior to the user tapping the screen. Forexample, a user may attempt to select a link in a web browser by tappingon its location, but the web browser may reflow just prior to receivingthe tap as an image is loaded into the browser.

Embodiments of the present invention may provide for a user interfacewhich ignores, at least temporarily, the selection of an active area ifthe active area has recently changed location. When a tap is received ona screen, the position may be checked to determine if it is associatedwith an active area. If the position is associated with an active area,it may be further determined if the active area has changed locationrecently. If the active area has changed location recently, the tap maybe ignored, or confirmation of the tap may be requested.

Referring to FIG. 1, a flow diagram of an example method 100 for userinterface tap selection on a touchscreen device is depicted. At block110, a tap may be received on a screen of a touchscreen device. Thetouchscreen device may be any touchscreen device such as tablets ormobile phones. At block 120, it may be determined whether the tap isassociated with an active area of a user interface on the touchscreendevice. The user interface may be any user interface such a web browser.The tap may be associated with the active area if the location of thetap occurred within the active area. There may be multiple active areason the user interface. Active areas may be associated with performing anaction when a tap is received on the active area. The active areas maycorrespond to links, buttons, text entry windows, or any otherselectable item on the user interface. If the tap is not associated withan active area, method 100 may proceed to block 180 and the tap may beignored. If the tap is associated with an active area, method 100 mayproceed to block 130.

At block 130, it may be determined whether the active area recentlychanged its position. This may include determining the period of timeelapsed between an origination time associated with the active area andthe time the tap was received. The origination time associated with theactive area may indicate the time the active area arrived in itsposition. For example, the origination time associated with the activearea may be when the active area was created or when it was last moved.

A tap-action map, such as those used by web browsers, may be maintainedwhich indicates the locations of active areas on the user interface. Atimestamp may be assigned to each active area in the tap-action map whenthe active area is created or moved. For example, when a link is loadedon to a page in a web browser the tap-action map may be updated toinclude an active area for the link along with a timestamp. If the linkis moved to another location in the browser, the location of the activearea associated with the link may be updated on the tap action map andassigned a new timestamp. The timestamp associated with an active areamay be compared to a timestamp associated with a received tap todetermine the period of time elapsed between the time of the tap and theorigination time.

Determining that the active area has changed location recently mayinclude determining the elapsed time period between the time of the tapand the origination time is within a specified time period. Thespecified time period may be chosen such that it is unlikely that a userintended to select the active area because the active area moved veryrecently. This time period may be chosen based on average human reactiontime. For example, the specified period of time may between 0.15 and0.30 seconds.

If the active area has not changed location recently (e.g. the tapoccurred more than 0.2 seconds after the active area last moved), method100 may proceed to block 170 and perform the action associated with theactive area. There are several actions which may occur depending on theactive area. For example, if the active area is a link, the action maybe opening a page associated with the link. In another example, theactive area may be a text entry box and the action may be providing atext entry tool for a user to enter text into the text entry box.

If the active area has changed location recently (e.g. the tap occurredwithin 0.2 seconds of the active area moving), method 100 may proceed toblock 140 and not perform the action. This may prevent the unintentionalperformance of an action. If the user did not have the time to recognizethe change in location of the active area prior to tapping the screen,it may be unlikely that the user intended to select the active area andperform the associated action. In some embodiments, method 100 mayproceed directly to block 180 and ignore the tap.

In some embodiments, method 100 may proceed to block 150 and requestconfirmation of the tap. In some embodiments, this may include providinga dialog box for confirming the selection. In some embodiments, a zoomedsection of the user interface may be provided to the user. The user maybe able to confirm the selection by tapping the active area in thezoomed section, may make a different selection in the zoomed section, ormay remove the zoomed section, for example, by tapping outside of thezoomed section.

At block 160, it may be determined if a confirmation is received. If aconfirmation is received, method 100 may proceed to block 170 andperform the action associated with the active area. If a confirmation isnot received, method 100 may proceed to block 180 and ignore the tap.From either block 170 or block 180, method 100 may proceed to block 190and end.

Referring to FIG. 2, an example user interface 200 with a dialog box 210for confirming a tap associated with an active area is depicted. Dialogbox 210 may be provided in response to receiving a tap associated withan active area which recently changed position. Dialog box 210 maycontain any text for requesting confirmation of the tap. Dialog box 210may contain a button for confirming the tap 220 and a button forrejecting the tap 230.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, example user interfaces 310A, 310B whichprovide a zoomed section for confirming a tap are depicted. FIG. 3Adepicts an example user interface 310A with an active area 320A. FIG. 3Bdepicts an example user interface 310B with a zoomed section 330B whichcontains active area 320B. Zoomed section 330B may be an enlarged windowcontaining area 330A in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3A may depict an example user interface 310A at a time prior toreceiving a tap associated with active area 320A. In response toreceiving a tap associated with area 320A, a zoomed section 320B may beprovided for confirming the tap. Zoomed section 330B may be an enlargedview of area 330A. The dotted lines bordering area 330A may not bevisible to a user of user interface 310A. Similarly, active area 320Bmay be an enlarged version of active area 320A. A user may confirm thetap by tapping active area 320B in zoomed section 330B. Although notillustrated, zoomed section 330B may contain additional active areasnear 320B which may be selected by the user. The user may be able toremove the zoomed section by tapping user interface 310B outside ofzoomed section 330B.

Referring to FIG. 4, a high-level block diagram of an example system forimplementing one or more embodiments of the invention is depicted. Themechanisms and apparatus of embodiments of the present invention applyequally to any appropriate computing system. The major components of thecomputer system 001 comprise one or more CPUs 002, a memory subsystem004, a terminal interface 012, a storage interface 014, an I/O(Input/Output) device interface 016, and a network interface 018, all ofwhich are communicatively coupled, directly or indirectly, forinter-component communication via a memory bus 003, an I/O bus 008, andan I/O bus interface unit 010.

The computer system 001 may contain one or more general-purposeprogrammable central processing units (CPUs) 002A, 002B, 002C, and 002D,herein generically referred to as the CPU 002. In an embodiment, thecomputer system 001 may contain multiple processors typical of arelatively large system; however, in another embodiment the computersystem 001 may alternatively be a single CPU system. Each CPU 002executes instructions stored in the memory subsystem 004 and maycomprise one or more levels of on-board cache.

In an embodiment, the memory subsystem 004 may comprise a random-accesssemiconductor memory, storage device, or storage medium (either volatileor non-volatile) for storing data and programs. In another embodiment,the memory subsystem 004 may represent the entire virtual memory of thecomputer system 001, and may also include the virtual memory of othercomputer systems coupled to the computer system 001 or connected via anetwork. The memory subsystem 004 may be conceptually a singlemonolithic entity, but in other embodiments the memory subsystem 004 maybe a more complex arrangement, such as a hierarchy of caches and othermemory devices. For example, memory may exist in multiple levels ofcaches, and these caches may be further divided by function, so that onecache holds instructions while another holds non-instruction data, whichis used by the processor or processors. Memory may be furtherdistributed and associated with different CPUs or sets of CPUs, as isknown in any of various so-called non-uniform memory access (NUMA)computer architectures.

The main memory or memory subsystem 004 may contain elements for controland flow of memory used by the CPU 002. This may include all or aportion of the following: a memory controller 005, one or more memorybuffer 006 and one or more memory devices 007. In the illustratedembodiment, the memory devices 007 may be dual in-line memory modules(DIMMs), which are a series of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chipsmounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personalcomputers, workstations, and servers. In various embodiments, theseelements may be connected with buses for communication of data andinstructions. In other embodiments, these elements may be combined intosingle chips that perform multiple duties or integrated into varioustypes of memory modules. The illustrated elements are shown as beingcontained within the memory subsystem 004 in the computer system 001. Inother embodiments the components may be arranged differently and have avariety of configurations. For example, the memory controller 005 may beon the CPU 002 side of the memory bus 003. In other embodiments, some orall of them may be on different computer systems and may be accessedremotely, e.g., via a network.

Although the memory bus 003 is shown in FIG. 4 as a single bus structureproviding a direct communication path among the CPUs 002, the memorysubsystem 004, and the I/O bus interface 010, the memory bus 003 may infact comprise multiple different buses or communication paths, which maybe arranged in any of various forms, such as point-to-point links inhierarchical, star or web configurations, multiple hierarchical buses,parallel and redundant paths, or any other appropriate type ofconfiguration. Furthermore, while the I/O bus interface 010 and the I/Obus 008 are shown as single respective units, the computer system 001may, in fact, contain multiple I/O bus interface units 010, multiple I/Obuses 008, or both. While multiple I/O interface units are shown, whichseparate the I/O bus 008 from various communications paths running tothe various I/O devices, in other embodiments some or all of the I/Odevices are connected directly to one or more system I/O buses.

In various embodiments, the computer system 001 is a multi-usermainframe computer system, a single-user system, or a server computer orsimilar device that has little or no direct user interface, but receivesrequests from other computer systems (clients). In other embodiments,the computer system 001 is implemented as a desktop computer, portablecomputer, laptop or notebook computer, tablet computer, pocket computer,telephone, smart phone, network switches or routers, or any otherappropriate type of electronic device.

FIG. 4 is intended to depict the representative major components of anexemplary computer system 001. But individual components may havegreater complexity than represented in FIG. 4, components other than orin addition to those shown in FIG. 4 may be present, and the number,type, and configuration of such components may vary. Several particularexamples of such complexities or additional variations are disclosedherein. The particular examples disclosed are for example only and arenot necessarily the only such variations.

The memory buffer 006, in this embodiment, may be intelligent memorybuffer, each of which includes an exemplary type of logic module. Suchlogic modules may include hardware, firmware, or both for a variety ofoperations and tasks, examples of which include: data buffering, datasplitting, and data routing. The logic module for memory buffer 006 maycontrol the DIMMs 007, the data flow between the DIMM 007 and memorybuffer 006, and data flow with outside elements, such as the memorycontroller 005. Outside elements, such as the memory controller 005 mayhave their own logic modules that the logic module of memory buffer 006interacts with. The logic modules may be used for failure detection andcorrecting techniques for failures that may occur in the DIMMs 007.Examples of such techniques include: Error Correcting Code (ECC),Built-In-Self-Test (BIST), extended exercisers, and scrub functions. Thefirmware or hardware may add additional sections of data for failuredetermination as the data is passed through the system. Logic modulesthroughout the system, including but not limited to the memory buffer006, memory controller 005, CPU 002, and even the DRAM may use thesetechniques in the same or different forms. These logic modules maycommunicate failures and changes to memory usage to a hypervisor oroperating system. The hypervisor or the operating system may be a systemthat is used to map memory in the system 001 and tracks the location ofdata in memory systems used by the CPU 002. In embodiments that combineor rearrange elements, aspects of the firmware, hardware, or logicmodules capabilities may be combined or redistributed. These variationswould be apparent to one skilled in the art.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosurehave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a first time,a first tap associated with an active area on a user interface of atouchscreen device, the active area associated with an origination time;determining that a period of time between the origination time and thefirst time is within a specified period of time; and in response to thedetermining, not performing an action associated with the active area.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: requesting a confirmationof the first tap; receiving the confirmation of the first tap; and inresponse to the receiving the confirmation, performing the action. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the requesting the confirmation of thefirst tap comprises providing a dialog box for requesting confirmation.4. The method of claim 2, wherein the requesting the confirmation of thefirst tap comprises providing a zoomed section of the user interface,the zoomed section containing the active area, and wherein the receivingthe confirmation of the first tap comprises receiving a second tap onthe zoomed section associated with the active area.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the origination time is identified from a timestampassociated with the active area on a tap-action map associated with theuser interface.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface isa web browser.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the specified period oftime is between 0.15 seconds and 0.30 seconds.
 8. A computer programproduct comprising a computer readable storage medium having programcode embodied therewith, the program code executable by a computer toperform a method comprising: receiving, at a first time, a first tapassociated with an active area on a user interface of a touchscreendevice, the active area associated with an origination time; determiningthat a period of time between the origination time and the first time iswithin a specified period of time; and in response to the determining,not performing an action associated with the active area.
 9. Thecomputer program product of claim 8, wherein the method furthercomprises: requesting a confirmation of the first tap; receiving theconfirmation of the first tap; and in response to the receiving theconfirmation, performing the action.
 10. The computer program product ofclaim 8, wherein the requesting the confirmation of the first tapcomprises providing a dialog box for requesting confirmation.
 11. Thecomputer program product of claim 8, wherein the requesting theconfirmation of the first tap comprises providing a zoomed section ofthe user interface, the zoomed section containing the active area, andwherein the receiving the confirmation of the first tap comprisesreceiving a second tap on the zoomed section associated with the activearea.
 12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein theorigination time is identified from a timestamp associated with theactive area on a tap-action map associated with the user interface. 13.The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the user interface is aweb browser.
 14. A system for generating responses to an electroniccommunication, the system comprising: one or more processors, one ormore computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangiblestorage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one ormore processors via at least one of the one or more memories, theprogram instructions comprising: program instructions to receive, at afirst time, a first tap associated with an active area on a userinterface of a touchscreen device, the active area associated with anorigination time; program instructions to determine that a period oftime between the origination time and the first time is within aspecified period of time; and program instructions to, in response tothe determining, not perform an action associated with the active area.15. The system of claim 14, wherein the program instructions forexecution further comprise: program instructions to request aconfirmation of the first tap; program instructions to receive theconfirmation of the first tap; and program instruction to, in responseto the receiving the confirmation, perform the action.
 16. The system ofclaim 14, wherein the program instructions to request the confirmationof the first tap comprise program instructions to provide a dialog boxfor requesting confirmation.
 17. The system of claim 14, wherein theprogram instructions to request the confirmation of the first tapcomprise program instructions to provide a zoomed section of the userinterface, the zoomed section containing the active area, and whereinthe program instructions to receive the confirmation of the first tapcomprise program instructions to receive a second tap on the zoomedsection associated with the active area.
 18. The system of claim 14,wherein the origination time is identified from a timestamp associatedwith the active area on a tap-action map associated with the userinterface.
 19. The system of claim 14, wherein the user interface is aweb browser.
 20. The system of claim 14, wherein the specified period oftime is between 0.15 seconds and 0.30 seconds.